Deuteronomy 7:5

Deuteronomy 7:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
• New International Version (NIV)This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

Context of Deuteronomy 7:5

3You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son; 4for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you. But this is how you shall deal with them: you shall tear down their altars and smash to pieces their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah), and burn their carved or sculpted images in the fire. 6For you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure]. 7“The Lord did not love you and choose you because you were greater in number than any of the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

Deuteronomy 7:5 word by word

כִּֽי־אִם־כֹּ֤ה תַעֲשׂוּ֙ לָהֶ֔ם מִזְבְּחֹתֵיהֶ֣ם תִּתֹּ֔צוּ וּמַצֵּבֹתָ֖ם תְּשַׁבֵּ֑רוּ וַאֲשֵֽׁירֵהֶם֙ תְּגַדֵּע֔וּן וּפְסִילֵיהֶ֖ם תִּשְׂרְפ֥וּן בָּאֵֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But thus shall ye dealעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• with them; ye shall destroyנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
• their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• and break downשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• their imagesמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• and cut downגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
• their grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• and burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• their graven imagesפָּסִילpesîyl · idolH6456
• with fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 7:5

• Deuteronomy 12:2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green [leafy] tree.
• Exodus 23:24You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].
• Exodus 34:13But you shall tear down and destroy their [pagan] altars, smash in pieces their [sacred] pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their Asherim
• 2 Kings 23:6Josiah brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, and burned it there, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people [who had sacrificed to it].
• Deuteronomy 16:22You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.
• Leviticus 26:1‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
• Judges 6:25Now on that same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
• Deuteronomy 7:25You shall burn the carved and sculpted images of their gods in the fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, so that you will not be ensnared by it [in a deadly trap], for it is an abomination (repulsive) to the Lord your God.
• Deuteronomy 9:21I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it in the fire and thoroughly crushed it, grinding the metal thoroughly until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
• Exodus 32:20Then Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it on the surface of the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7:5

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-11Verses 1-11 See Deuteronomy 6:10 note. Deuteronomy 7:5 Their groves - Render, their idols of wood: the reference is to the wooden trunk used as a representation of Ashtaroth; see Deuteronomy 7:13 and Exodus 34:13 note. Deuteronomy 7:7 The fewest of all people - God chose for Himself Israel, when as yet but a single family, or rather a single person, Abraham; though there were already numerous nations and powerful kingdoms in the earth. Increase…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Engraved stone pillars called stelae usually represented pagan male gods. People commonly found these sacred pillars at shrines dedicated to Baal. Asherah poles, usually made of wood, represented Canaanite fertility goddesses, especially Asherah, the mother of the gods. These shrines might have developed as stylized sacred trees associated with fertility (see study note on 12:2).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-62-6. thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them--This relentless doom of extermination which God denounced against those tribes of Canaan cannot be reconciled with the attributes of the divine character, except on the assumption that their gross idolatry and enormous wickedness left no reasonable hope of their repentance and amendment. If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians or the people of Sodom…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 7:5

• Carving
• Iconoclasm

In the dictionaries

• High place
• Idolatry
• Redeem
• Terrible
• Deuteronomy
• Fire
• Pillar
• Quarries

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings